1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a pressure medium cylinder with a piston rod extending out on one side whose cylinder floor, which closes off the cylinder tube on the piston side, carries a fastening element and a function block, placed on top, with function elements, for example, hook-ups, valves, and a pressure tank or accumulator.
2. The Prior Art
Cylinders of this type have been known in the art for different kinds of applications. Despite simple and compact construction, they allow for safe functioning and provide strokes and forces that are variable within wide margins. In particular with respect to safety engineering applications, it is often desired or necessary that at least some function elements for controlling these types of cylinders are arranged directly on the cylinder itself and without being obstructed by lines, which represent an increased risk. Aside from the fact that arranging these types of function elements in one piece with or as part of the cylinder floor, cylinder lid or cylinder tube, complicates the overall design and, by its nature, assembly and maintenance as well, those types of apparatuses have proved effective in this context which feature block-type combined function units that are placed on or inside the area of the cylinder floor. Therefore, these function blocks are screwed on, while sealed, to connection surfaces that are to be worked correspondingly. The necessary pressure medium connections are established via matching openings of the corresponding lines on the connection areas acting in conjunction.
Pressure medium cylinders of this type are used, for example, in so-called cylinder storage units which are found in the context of passenger protection and/or passenger (occupant) restraint applications in vehicles used in amusement rides, etc., in connection with safety grippers (lap bars) or similar elements. In contrast to mechanical locking systems currently in use, these pressure storage units make it possible to realize a continuous gripper adjustment. The wear and tear involved is negligible in comparison to mechanical systems, a fact that also contributes to an improvement of the safety function. The safety gripper is opened via the energy that was stored during the closing process in a pressure tank on the function block. To improve the safety function it is also possible to use several units per person.
A certain disadvantage still remains with the embodiments of pressure medium cylinders of the type that are known in the art and that were described at the outset. Specifically, despite all of their advantages, these cylinders are equipped with a relatively complicated and inflexibly realized connection of the function block. There appears to be potential for improvement on the connection of the function block in terms of its construction volume, the weight of the overall apparatus and safety and/or solidity of the connection.
It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved pressure medium cylinder of the type described earlier in order to avoid the referred to disadvantages of the apparatuses that are known in the art and in order to improve the apparatus and the attachment of the function block placed upon it.
The objective that has been outlined here is achieved with a pressure medium cylinder of the type referred to at the outset according to the invention in particular in such a manner that the cylinder floor has at least one cylindrical outer connection area in which the pressure medium lines, leading to the work chambers, open to the outside and upon which the function block is placed and fastened utilizing a sealed through-hole into which the pressure medium lines of the function elements open. Consequently, the connection area that was envisioned until now always only on one side on the cylinder or the cylinder floor has been expanded to a revolving, cylindrical outer connection area on the cylinder floor, which is inserted into a correspondingly sealed through-hole of the function block and fastened there. Thus, this results in a very stable and therefore secure construction. Any forces that may develop between the cylinder or the cylinder floor and the function block are thus transferred for the most part directly, form-fittedly between these structural components and not, as it has been customary to date, via hold down bolts or similar elements on the one-sided connection areas.
According to a particularly preferred further embodiment of the invention, it is envisioned that, in total, the cylinder floor is realized as a coaxial, connected-sealed, separate turned part with the cylinder tube, which in turn considerably simplifies the manufacture of the cylinder floor in contrast to the milled part required until now.
The pressure medium lines in the through-hole of the function block and /or on the outer connection area of the cylinder floor open, according to another preferred embodiment, into revolving ring recesses thereby resulting very simply in a certain freedom in terms of the angle when positioning the function block in relation to the cylinder floor or the pressure medium cylinder. If the fastening element on the cylinder floor determines, for example, a defined turning position of the cylinder, with this embodiment, however, it is still possible to fasten the function block turned at any angle in relation thereto on the cylindrical connection area of the cylinder floor, which is advantageous for many applications.
In another embodiment of the invention the cylinder floor is screwed and sealed into the cylinder tube, thereby simplifying manufacture and assembly, which does not result in any difficulties with regard to positioning the parts in relation to one another, ultimately because of the possibility described above of mounting the function block offset in terms of its angle.
According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the fastening element for the pressure medium cylinder is attached on the outer side of the cylinder floor and consists preferably of a screwed in swivel eye. This too simplifies manufacture and assembly of the cylinder floor and/or of the overall pressure medium cylinder.
In another advantageous embodiment of the invention it can be envisioned that the function block that is placed on [the apparatus] is fastened by way of a fastening nut that is screwed on to the cylinder floor from the outside. This way, very simply, a possibility for safely attaching the function block is created, while the option that was addressed above for installing a, for example, larger swivel eye at a later date is not impaired by this.
The invention will now be described in more detail by reference to the attached drawings.